Roz Silva

Botts's Dots Roz Silva

Some inventions are such a familiar part of our everyday lives that we may never stop to think about where they came from or who invented them. Botts's Dots: Not Just a Bump in the Road is the first book in the Who Invented That? series about just such inventions.

Dr. Elbert Dysart Botts was a hero of the modern era. In the 1950s he worked as an engineer at a division of California's Highway Transportation Agency later called Caltrans. To improve safety for drivers and highway workers, he and his team developed the markers now known as Botts Dots. These little round dots, laid out in rows, made it easier for drivers to stay within their lanes, especially at night or in rainy weather, or when sleepy or distracted.

This is the story of Dr. Botts and his dots.